I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

So, you're about to arrive in a largish city, you've never been before, and you've only made tentative living arrangements in a hostel based on some information a contact gave you and that which you've been able to glean off the internet. A good start, eh? Well, I think I would have been absolutely lost had it not been for a couple of absolute stars - Korban and "Elvis" (I swear, that's what his business card says!). Korban is a Uyghur man, 41, who seems to split his time between Urumqi and other cities, on various business. He speaks English, but only because he's picked it up over the years from talking to people as he travels - he doesn't read or write Chinese and I suspect he's illiterate where English is concerned too, but that doesn't matter. Over the course of the 2-day train ride we exchanged small pleasantries and once or twice he helped me explain something to the Chinese passengers (though his vocabulary is varied - he didn't know the word "farmer" but instead knew "agriculture", which helped a great deal, but was surprising). On Day 2, as we chatted, he offered to help me find the hostel - and me, not being quite that big an idiot, said yes please (or yesplzkthx, to you Lucy).

We rolled closer to Urumqi and started talking about family; he has a wife who is 14 years younger than he is, and 4 children ... it can't be too easy being away from them all the time. And we also compared the prices of various things - it seems to be a popular topic in China - though it took me a while to work out he was on about money, because he pronounced "pounds" like "porn" and I couldn't understand how our conversation had taken such a nosedive. (I had visions of him trying to show me the red light district, which seemed out of character for such a man!) ... The passengers next to us were all Chinese (virtually no spoken English) and they had obviously heard Korban was helping me find my hostel - the only problem was he didnt know exactly where it was. However, Elvis had an idea, and fortunately it coincided with his route home, so he offered to take me to a taxi, explain to the driver where to go, and help me that way. I must have stumbled on the jackpot of good fortune here!

(Aside slightly, Lucy you will be pleased to know the leopard went down a treat with one of Elvis' daughters, who was pawing agitatedly at some man's face - he kept winding her up - until I said she looked like a cat, and made the leopard hand to "bite" her ... she saw the funny side, as did the rest of the berth ^_^)

We stepped out of the train and into an oven. It was disgusting, but less so than Shanghai - at least we had a breeze here. Readers of the previous post will remember my "ordeal" and the fact it left me a little dehydrated, well I tell you, I was straight onto the water - I stepped off the train and made a beeline for the kiosk before coming back to Elvis and his family, who I was to follow out of the station. If I thought the platform was bad, I hadn't felt anything yet. Outside, the luxury of shade was removed, and I found myself quickly baking, worrying seriously about the prospect of heatstroke. [I later discovered via the BBC that there was a freakishly high temperature of 34C in Urumqi on Tuesday - THIRTY FOUR DEGREES, that's ridiculous, my melting point is somewhere around 25C!]

I followed Elvis and his family until we were met by a man who wanted to take us to his car - I thought, maybe this is how taxis work here, until Elvis introduced the man as his 弟弟 (didi, pronounced dee-dee, or younger brother), and said that he would take us to my hostel on the way back to their house. At this point I could hardly believe my good fortune - not only have I just met someone who will help me to my hostel, but they will do it personally, and when we arrived wouldn't even accept payment ... I have his business card though, so if I think of something nice to do in return I have that option. Babysitting, maybe. :P

By the time I stepped out of the car at the hostel I was about ready to die. I'd tried drinking water, it wasn't working so well, I'd tried pouring it over my head, that wasn't helping much either. Short of diving into an ice-bath there really didn't seem much hope for me if I stayed out in the sun. I was literally wilting, so imagine my delight as I entered the hostel and was met not just by shade but airconditioned shade at that. 冷气 (aircon, or lengqi, pronounced lung-chee) the two sweetest words in the Chinese language! The inside of the hostel was spacious, clean, and the reception friendly - by the time I got up the stairs I was bursting with all the water I had taken on, and had to run to the toilet before checking in even.

Check-in took only a few minutes, while I decided what room I wanted (based on size, bed numbers, en suite, and of course price), and the validity of my visa was brought into question (why is the visa validity period zero days?). [Oh and I completely forgot to mention, everyone had their passports checked by a Chinese policeman while on the train - he went from carriage to carriage, and had a little electronic book to enter details of travellers, maybe even check them against some database, who knows, all I can say is I'm glad I had my passport on my person when he asked, as I was wandering around, not in my carriage!] - finally I had a room though. 4 beds, ensuite shower and toilet (WESTERN), TV, fan, nice bed (a tad hard but so what), wireless internet, etc etc - 55Y per night, that's about £4.35 ... China really is excellent value for money.

I stank. I absolutely, positively ponged. After more than 2 days in the same clothes though, what do you expect? Even sitting on an airconditioned train, I still smelt bad. So what was the first thing I did when I got into my room? Yeah that's right, establish that there is Wifi to be used, and get online to chat with friends in the UK. I'm that bad. Of course I did take the time to clean myself up later, and then set out for a bite to eat - there was a place doing Kazakh food right below the hostel, which one of the receptionists recommended, so I headed down there and tucked into a big bowl of meat (hot) and noodles (er, cold?), with some bread on the side, and a drink too - total price, Y15 (about £1.20) ... feeling nice and full I came back upstairs and my stomach began to gurgle. I doubt it can have been the food I just ate, that would be far too fast-acting, and besides I'd been feeling up and down with my stomach recently ... still, the call couldn't go unanswered.

And, to keep a long story short, that little episode last night marked the start of my 吃坏肚子 or "poor stomach brought on by eating something bad" - this morning my insides are still somewhat loose, though I suppose I should try eating something and seeing how it stays (or not), and I have some small cramps but at least I'm not vomiting, and despite a slight inability to regulate my temperature (I keep fluctuating between shivery and a bit warm), I'm not feverish. With any luck this will pass in the next 24 hours and my stomach will be made of iron before I know it.

In the meantime, between bouts of traveller's diarrhoea, I think I might try and get out to the local supermarket (conveniently next door) and see what they have by way of small dry goods to eat and maybe some medicine too (Western, not Chinese).

The Great Train Ride - Day 2

Let's talk for a bit about the Chinese and how they travel. I've left this til the last day because to be honest it's not SO BAD that it will stop you taking a journey with them, but after 35+ hours certain things begin to grate, especially if you aren't used to them beforehand.

* Coughing and sneezing - it's fine to do this without covering your nose or mouth, regardless of status or education. If you do cover your nose or mouth it's okay not to wash your hands afterwards. This applies to anyone, regardless of whether they are ill or not. And it was nice to know that there were two passengers with colds right next to me in my berth.

* The contents of your lungs are made to be loudly and frequently brought up and spat out into a sink (if you are lucky, or if there are rules about spitting on the floor, such as on this train!) Gender is not an issue here, though it is mainly men that do it.

* Smoking is like a national sport, if it had been an Olympic event, the Chinese would almost certainly have had another Gold (if not the Silver and Bronze too).

Once you have got past all that, there remains only the mystery of the toilets to fathom out. How do they work? What is the bucket of water for? Why supply a toilet roll holder but no paper? How do I stop myself peeing on my trousers when in a squat position but simultaneously avoid getting my trousers on the (not so clean) floor?

They work by flushing water towards the hole at one end (at the base of a slope) and opening up a hole into which all waste may flow (and, I assume, be dumped onto the track below). Like I said before, you might as well just put a seat over the open track, it would be a lot simpler, and save the problem of when the hole gets blocked up. The bucket of water remains a mystery to me, though I did see people leave the room without washing their hands and I'm guessing maybe they washed them in this water, though why, when there is a washroom opposite, is anyone's guess. The permanently empty toilet-roll-holder ... I can only assume people either don't poo or they don't wipe ... or maybe they bring their own paper, I know I did! The answer to the last question is to wear shorts.

Anyhow, I woke up on Tuesday morning with an urge. I think everyone reading can guess exactly what that was and how it conflicted with my strong feelings about Chinese commodes. I held it down, but of course I was hungry so I went on the bread a bit, and had some more liquid because I felt a bit dehydrated. I made the mistake at this point of going out past the toilet cubicles (thinking hmm I might try it) and wandering into a dense layer of smoke. Here I got chatting to some Chinese, and it turned out one of them was starting at XNU next week as well! I didn't get his contact details because I was sidetracked by a tall, skinny, Uyghur man with whom I had chatted previously, only this time he wasn't about the chat so much as offering me a cigarette. I tried to decline but it turned out to be less of an offer and more of a polite insistence. A firm, polite, insistence. So, I had a cigarette. Woop.

A little interjection here - prior to this event I had not even noticed there was a small hole in the floor of the washroom (just 2 sinks and a mirror). At one station stop however, it became clear what this was for - following refilling the water tanks, some bright spark had come up with a genius method for cleaning the floors, namely to pass rapid-flowing water across them (they were some kind of lino) and this hole was the exit hole. This was fascinating to watch and I'm glad I hadn't thought about washing my hands or wetting my face at that moment! Small mercies, eh.

Thinking of small mercies, my stomach subsided a bit, and I went back in the carriage. A little later on, the same man came by, stood in the ante-room doorway and offered me another cigarette. I thought I was safe because you aren't allowed to smoke in the carriage itself, but no, he was practically putting it in my mouth and lighting it for me ... goddamn. So I had another cigarette. Cough. At some point later in the day, I forget when now, he gave me a third one. By this point I had given up protesting and was just taking minimal drags - he always finished before me anyway so once he left I could just stub out the remainder. But my, what insistence! I did like after the last one though, how he told me he smokes 60 a day (my estimate had been 30) and then inhaled deeply, exhaled a fancy plume of smoke, and patted his chest with a satisfied sigh. How he has not got emphysema or lung cancer by now is anyone's guess.

The smoking done with, I tried to concentrate on how I only had 3 hours on the train, could I hold my guts in until I reached Urumqi and the prospect of a Western toilet? ... No, I could not. Even having seen some of the previous offerings that remained too much of a challenge for the primitve steel pans to do away with (and, by the way Lucy, that offered proof that girls do poo), my guts were rumbling and I needed to go. However the worst was yet to come - I locked myself in the cubicle (the "nice" one, ie: it smelt less than the one opposite it), got my shorts out the way, made sure I had paper, and noticed for the first time the small handle about shin height which was obviously for the novice squatter to steady themselves. Aha! Mint, I thought, this won't be so hard after all ... 

... how wrong could I be? Within seconds of squatting it became obvious that my lack of thigh strength was going to prove my downfall - with all the tension routed through my thighs, my stomach cramped up and I couldn't go. The irony of it all. Here I was, braving my steel nemesis, and I had stage-fright. Worse still, when I stood up, the tension in my stomach remained and hurt worse than before. So of course I tried again. And the same happened. Thoroughly disheartened, I left the cubicle and got some water in me, thinking maybe that if I pushed some liquid through it might ease everything up. A while later and I felt more the ticket. Shame this was just as we pulled into a station and the toilets were locked. Really, someone did not want me using this toilet.

Well, eventually we pulled out of the station and I holed up in the cubicle once more. Hurray! Victory! It may not have been much but it was something and man did I feel better; the only problem was my legs were cramping up fast and the cubicle, warm at best, felt like it was roasting while I battled to tidy up as the train hurtled along. To say I've had better days is an understatement. When I left the cubicle I could hear my ears start to ring, and it was all I could do following washing my hands to get a good litre of ice tea down me in an attempt not to pass out this close to our destination. But I had won!

Needless to say I felt immensely relieved after this, and my advice to anyone travelling on the trains is this - go to the toilet. Like the Nike ads say, "Just do it". It's not that bad, and it's far worse if you've been holding on!

I'm sitting in Urumqi now, relatively comfortable, but that's a story for the next post!

The Great Train Ride - Day 1 and Night 2

This might be a bit sketchy, I wasn't really making too many notes as I went along ...

I remember waking up a bit during the night, but managing to go back to sleep alright, despite my initial semi-stress over the claustrophobic conditions of the top bunk, they abated and I was able to get my head down for some much needed naptime. Thank you Marcia for the earplugs they were a godsend, there was this grill on the AC unit above me that just wouldnt stop rattling!

Anyway, dawn came and brought with it more flashes of Chinese countryside. We were making pretty good progress but still officially behind time by about an hour; despite this, I was pleasantly surprised to see us arriving into Xi'an at 1200. In my head Xi'an was some kind of northern Chinese landmark, and would put us well on our way to Urumqi. That was until I got my National Geographic map of China out (thanks Marilyn!) and realised that yes, Xi'an is northern, but no, it is not very western, in fact it's kind of central as far as China goes ... but at least I knew where we were so I could follow our journey as we stopped at various places!

About this point you are probably wondering what on earth I did during this train ride ... When I wasn't writing a letter to Lucy, sleeping, playing with the games on my iPod, or trying not to think about the toilets, I was chatting with my fellow passengers. Of the whole train I think I was the only white person ... and though it transpired on Day 2 that some people spoke a modicum of English, they were certainly quite reluctant to use it, and I was pretty much left chatting Chinese. Yes, this was a great way to try and tune my ear to the language, and pick up some vocabulary or be corrected on my grammar, but it was an awful lot of brain-work in a very short space of time and I quickly found my head spinning somewhat. Anyhow, there wasn't a shortage of things to discuss, and if there was a lull in conversation it could quickly be filled by one of the aforementioned activities or by the passing of one of the many (almost continuous) trolleys brought round by the train crew (who I nicknamed the Smurfs because of their blue uniform) serving anything from ready meals to trinkets.

Sticking with the Smurfs for a bit, it was also in their remit to look after the carriages, as far as I could tell they were assigned their own carriage, maybe one between three (to allow for shifts, etc) and they had to do stuff like sweep the carpet, check tickets (and exchange them with customers for the relevant boarding card, a plastic ticket you kept instead of your own ticket until you left the train at which point it was re-exchanged), and last but not least, clean the toilets at every (or most) station stops. This also included locking them on the approach to a station, so people wouldnt flush onto the station tracks while the train was by the platform. God I do not envy those women - 5 days at a time on the train (Shanghai - Urumqi and then back again, followed by a week off), and the state the toilets could get into, well ... it just wasn't nice. I'm no real fan of second hand smoke but when it's covering the smell of whoever has just been in before you I know which I'd rather. Still, I didn't want to very much, and to this end I was avoiding eating the local food, knowing it would send me running straight to the stainless steel pit of horror. I stuck rigorously to bread and topped off with sweets every now and then, drinking juice or ice tea to keep on top of my fluids.

By nightfall we had passed Lanzhou and were heading into semi-desert. I'd been for a walk down the train, seen the Soft Sleeper berths, the dining car, and ascertained there were NO western toilets on the T52 / 53 from Shanghai to Urumqi. This only reinforced my resolve not to go. I think by this point I had broken my golden rule about sleep, and succumbed to a very nice slumber in the afternoon, headphones on, AC above me ... this didn't help my sleep much during Night 2, but hey, I seem to be getting used to this whole tiredness thing!

Throughout the night I could read the ever-scrolling message board opposite me, which had (in among the Chinese) such gems in English as: "NOW TIME 2043" and "TRACK NOW BE LATE", as well as regular updates on the train speed and external temperature. From this I gathered that we were no closer to making up our lost time, and would remain a full 90 minutes late until sometime in Day 2.

The Great Train Ride - Night 1

I'm breaking my journey up a bit, because there's tons to write about ... Lucy I apologise that much of this is in my letter to you (a work in progress, I'm afraid), and also that I go on about toilets quite a lot. Actually I apologise to everyone for that, but it makes an integral part of a long train journey in China.

My insomnia only got worse on Saturday night; I went out for a meal with my roommates (yay, instant friends!), and we got back around 2345, and drank a couple of beers between us with the money we'd had leftover from paying at the restaurant ... so it was around 0100 when we got to bed. And 0230 (again) when I woke up, and found myself unable to sleep. I read a book, I tried getting some rest, but no dice, I was well and truly awake. This did not bode well with my plan to stay up all day until I got on the train and then kip for about 10 hours solid. Still, I thought this was the only way to cure my raging lack of sleep, so I stuck with it. By lunchtime I was knackered, and going out for a restaurant lunch with Marcia and Ieva was great but the sheer volume of food combined with Shanghai's humidity was seeing me to sleep something rotten. I persevered and entered a nasty state whereby my brain was desperate for a break but my body was forcing it to stay awake. This wasn't physical exhaustion, but mental tiredness and it was not pleasant.

Knowing that there was very little chance of there being a Western toilet on the train I thought the best thing to do would be to go before leaving the hostel ... prudent, some may say. Eventually, at around 1800 I decided it was time to make a break for the train station. I said goodbye to my roommates and headed off to the subway. The main station was 13 stops from the subway nearest the hostel, but at least I didn't have to change lines. By now I was in unfamiliar territory where tiredness was concerned ... as I walked from the underground toward the main station entrance I found myself wanting to cry, and without any reason why. Sure, I felt "alone" but nothing major in that, I'm used to travelling solo, this was, I decided, just my body wanting to lay down and snooze for half a day, to put itself in order. I must have fought back the overwhelming urge to just break down and let it all out 5 times in the next 2 hours - everything just seemed too much to handle. Sitting in the waiting room for 90 minutes (I got there early) with all these Chinese around me was an absolute killer, no way was I going to make a show there though! "Stupid foreigner, why is he crying, I don't know, let's stare some more" ... Not gonna happen.

And then, like a second wind, my train was called and I was on some kind of autopilot, tiredness forgotten, just the prospect of getting on the train and finding my bed. I boarded at coach 13 and then found my sleeping bunk was at the other end, typical eh? I had to squeeze with all my luggage past 10 other berths of six beds each to get to my slot, but I was finally there. My bed was, in keeping with this day of trials, the top bunk ... I'll digress for a moment to explain Chinese trains:

* Soft Sleeper - most expensive, 4 beds to a berth, the berth has a door (ooh privacy)

* Hard Sleeper - not actually that much less comfy that Soft Sleeper but six beds to a berth, the top one usually being quite tight, and no doors on the berths - they are like rooms off a corridor (the walkway) but without a moment to oneself

* Soft Seat - padded seats

* Hard Seat - no idea, don't ever want to find out, apparently only suitable for the shortest of journeys and even then I think Soft Seat is a good idea if you can afford it!

Well, the Soft Sleeper option for this train had apparently sold out (I went for a walk on the train, I think there was only one carriage for it, which explains it being full), by the time my friend came to book the journey, and Hard Sleeper was fine with me, so that's what I got. The top bunk was not as claustrophobic as I had previously imagined - there was space enough to prop oneself up and it was possible to sit hunched over. Luggage went either under the bottom bunk or on top of the ledges opposite the top bunk - one advantage of being up there, I could nip in and out of my bag at my leisure without disturbing anyone. Also it was closest to the A/C unit, which was nice, until on the second afternoon when it started recycling the smoking air ... ewww.

After a brief chit chat with some of my fellow passengers - limited English if any, but all very welcoming - I excused myself to use the toilet ... umm ... yes, if that's what you call a stainless steel hole in the ground. honestly if you're going to do that, why not just have an open hole to the track? Fortunately at this point all I needed to do was wee out all the water I had downed in keeping me awake and hydrated while I negotiated the Shanghai humidity, and bigger matters (ahem) could wait. I decided to get my head down; I explained I had been travelling way too much and my newfound travel-buddies understood. I felt a bit odd keeping all my clothes on for sleeping in, especially given that I was still quite hot and sweaty from having lugged all my stuff around, but then again everyone else was, so why break the mould? It was some disappointment that my sleep was quite broken throughout the night, but I managed the best part of 7 hours' sleep and awoke feeling not too shabby for Day 1.

Faithless

"I can't get no sleep."

I seem to be suffering from insomnia at the moment. My body clock is entirely screwed up, and even when I have done loads and should be about ready to drop off the face of the earth with tiredness, I can't. Or not for long anyway.

Yesterday, following my nap in the afternoon, I did very little - I think I managed a trip to one of the local corner stores (part of a chain called Buddies, which is displayed in bright pink signing), a bit like a Co-op in the UK, and picked up a couple of bready-looking items and a can of "milky coffee" ... yes, a can. I took a picture to prove it but I've yet to upload the photo to my laptop, and in turn work out where I am going to store all the images for this year abroad. And how to put them into my blog if needs be. I came back to the hostel, and set myself up on the floor with my two bread things and my can of coffee, while I chatted with one of my roommates. I'm in a room with three other people, all of them girls about a year or two older than me, at various stages in their post-graduate education or travels. There's Anna (Polish), Ieva (pronounced Yay-vah, she's from Lithuania), and Marcia (Brazilian) - I don't think I need to change any of their names because I'm not about to say anything nasty about them ;)

Anyway, I chatted with Anna while I tucked into my sugary "lunch" at about 1600, not quite refreshed from my afternoon kip, but then not deathly tired either. After about half an hour she left to go explore the city while there was still light (good luck, it seems to get dark here very early despite it being summer - by 1900 the sun has gone completely), and I cotched on my bed, doing nothing very much in particular until the others came in and we formed some kind of cliquey laptop-using room, sitting on our beds tapping away. Anna came back from the pagoda she had been trying to see (unsuccessful, the light was too bad to take photos anyway she said), and we tentatively said that as a room we should go out to supper together, but a bit later of course, when we were all hungry ...

Around 2000 we set off, letting Anna lead - she's been staying here for a few weeks now, while she does an internship in the Polish embassy, so she knows roughly where good places to eat might be ... and about a ten minute walk later we wound up at a restaurant. It was clean, air conditioned (though annoyingly they turned off the AC unit halfway through our meal!) and the service very efficient - a little English here or there but for the most part a good chance to practice my Chinese (and for us all to have a giggle over some of the translations on the menu). Eventually we ordered - veggie dumplings for Marcia, and chicken dumplings with a beef stew for the rest of us to share. Suffice to say it was all very tasty and I'm still here with no ill effects the following morning!

We left around 2230, having paid Y74 between us, about Y18 (£1.50ish) each including drinks, with some change leftover to stop off at the Buddies on the way home and buy a couple of bottles of beer to pass round when we got in. We stayed up chatting until about 0100, at which point we were all quite drained and plonked ourselves into bed ... and this takes me back to the sleep issue. I had slept for about 3 hours in the afternoon, not long enough (I thought) to disrupt any nightly pattern, and certainly not if I went to bed late. I fully expected to sleep through til 0600 at the very least. But no, at 0230 I woke up. It couldnt have been noise, I had earplugs in, kindly donated by Marcia ... it was a combination of hunger (what? after the meal we had?) and needing the toilet (despite having been before going to bed??) ... the latter was easy to fix, the former less so, not having any food to hand. So I was well and truly awake. By 0330 I was in the same situation as last night, sitting up in bed reading a novel, hoping it would send me to the land of nod.

At 0700 I took a shower, despite my hunger being overriding - after all, I had neglected to have a wash the night before and I was beginning to pong somewhat. My ablutions complete (the shampoo I picked up didnt smell of coconut, much to my disappointment, it was a generic shampoo smell), I went out for breakfast, my hunger by now having peaked and fallen somewhat. I wanted to try steamed buns from the local place I ate at yesterday, and ordered 5 with meat fillings ... They turned out to be huge and the fillings less than desirable. Guess I won't be ordering them again ... oh well. Picked up a coffee-in-a-can from the Buddies next door, chatted in Chinese with one of the workers there, who recognised me from yesterday, and came back to the hostel. The air, even at this time of morning is heavy and the temperature hotter than I would like. Not to mention that as I walked back to the hostel the stench from the road really got to me, just as I had taken a bite from one of the buns ... I half wanted to vomit. Honestly, I will be happy to leave here - the company is great and the accommodation more than fine, but the city is just disgusting.

The plan for today is to try and stay awake until I am on the train this evening and then to curl up in a (hopefully air-conditioned) ball and sleep soundly until sometime in the morning. I think buying some snacks is prudent, especially given my tendency to wake up at 2 and want to eat, and I may think about getting postcards and a sewing kit to keep myself busy on the train - I have big plans for a pair of socks and an iPod cover in the making ... the train leaves at 2048 and arrives 42 hours later but there's some difference in the official time of arrival (centralised to Beijing's clocks, some 3 timezones East) and the (real) local time, so I have no idea what time I actually get in, nor how this will affect my already-screwed body rhythm.

Next post probably from Urumqi!

上海 (Shanghai)

Well, I made it. After 2 flights, a stopover in Dubai, and a ride on the Shanghai underground system, I arrived at my hostel.

The flights were mostly uneventful, and I have to say Emirates are an extremely pleasant way to travel. Little touches made a lot of difference, for example the occasional (and not overpowering) injections of perfume into the cabin air supply to stop everyone smelling like long-journey, and the small pinpricks of bright white light that shine through the ceiling panels after the internal lights have been dimmed for passengers to sleep, that make up a night sky for anyone left awake ... unnecessary but a very nice touch. The food was good, and there was plenty of it, and the novelty of having a TV to hand was not lost on me :) That, and the 2 cameras mounted on the plane, offering a forward and downward view in realtime, delivered to your seat - I found myself just wanting to call "CUUUUUUT!" <-- skydivery reference.

There were a heap of other British students travelling to China, but they were all headed on some 3 week trip to Hangzhou, funded by the government (bar flights), for which I do recall receiving an email but of course the trip was of limited use / interest to me. Still, at least there was some extra company on the planes. By and large though, the trips were dull and I couldn't wait to get off the aircraft, although it has to be said, stepping off planes into an environment that is 30ish Celsius and humid (even at night, when we entered Dubai, it was like swimming outside in the air) is less than pleasant. Still, we were rapidly inside and air conditioned again (mmm, recycled air).

Shanghai wasnt much better - indeed, when I got off the Maglev (there's a high speed magnetic levitation train that runs from the airport to one of the city's metro stops, and only costs about £4.50, about 1/3 the price of a taxi ride) the first thing I did was find a stall selling water and pick up 2 bottles. Even having downed one of them, I found myself feeling a little funny on the metro ride across the city. Chinese metro lines are well serviced but very popular and at certain junctions (where lines connect, etc) the idea of personal space is lost completely. Stepping out into the area in which my hostel is located was a bit of a downer - it can hardly be said to be the most affluent of places. The hostel itself however is very good - air con, showers, toilet (both Western and Chinese, more on that later), food, a bar, computers, internet (wireless and free to use on their machines), etc etc. I'm in a mixed dorm of 4 people, I have a locker for my valuables, and it's costing about £5 per night, not bad at all! The only thing I would say is that having a shower is almost pointless, unless you can get out of the cubicle quickly, because the atmosphere is so hot and wet (even with the fan on in there) that even following a cold shower you find yourself sweating within seconds.

This being the case, I left showering low on my list of things to do. I paid for the accommodation, settled in a bit, and got some food and a beer inside me (the beer to try and send me to sleep a bit quicker), before having a shower (I had to buy soap from reception, not having brought any with me, d'oh!) and trying to sleep. I got about 4 hours kip before waking at about 0300. At 0400 I started to read, careful not to wake the other people in my dorm, but I think they are all heavy sleepers anyway. At about 0540 I had had enough and ventured outside, the smell of the local area no longer even getting to me (yeah, it's a tad ripe, so what), and got stared at by local people cycling by ... I tried unsuccessfully to order food in a small cafe type place, and then in the distance saw a corner shop, so I went for a gander and ended up buying some shampoo (I havent opened it yet, but I think from the pic on the outside it might smell like coconut) and a small flannel for travel washing on the train over the next couple of days. Then I popped next door to a larger restaurant eatery cafe type place and got a big bowl of beef noodles. Not the best dish ever but I had been hungry for hours by this point so I didnt much care. Later on I think I will try the dumplings / steamed breads / fried breads / etc ... it all looked quite decent and I'm not too worried about having caught anything nasty!

Even this early on in the morning the air is heavy and the sky is invisible, the veil of pollution and cloud being ominously low. I've come back to the hostel to use the internet, update this blog a bit, and maybe get my head down for an hour. I'm meeting a friend of a friend at 10 to get my train ticket to Urumqi, and from what I've been reading about hard-sleeper carriages, I'm not concerned at all that I will have an alright (if not a bit boring) ride. Other things to do over today and tomorrow are to find a torch (for things like reading when you think your nightlight will just disturb other people) and stock up on some food for the train - yes, they will have a dining car, but if there are things you really like (and there are) it's wise to buy them prior to boarding.

For the minute, that is pretty much all. If anyone would care to text me, I am still using my UK SIM card, the number is 00 44 (0) 7864 967 424 and I think I receive messages for free :)

The Night Before the Morning After

By the time I upload this I will probably be sitting in a Gatwick Airport departure lounge. (EDIT - wrong, I am in a hostel in Shanghai)



This was my last full day in the UK before I head off to China – I barely slept last night, what with packing until about 0230, there’s always going to be that little extra something you could have taken, but for the sake of a year I really don’t think I’ve forgotten anything too important. The bare essentials – flight details, passport, money – are packed and anything that I’ve left behind can almost certainly be bought abroad if need be.



Following my late bedtime, I had the joy of an “early” morning – well, waking up at about 0830 is early enough when you’ve hardly slept. We left the house at 1120 and were at New Street surprisingly early (1130) which meant a full forty minutes before Lucy’s train departed. That was definitely the hardest part of the day, I think for both of us, but especially for her. Somewhat teary-eyed she drew further away from me as the train sped up – I hope if you are reading this now, kitten, that you are not crying so much! And that was that, I thought. Until I got upstairs from the platform and had to take a minute or two before seeing Mum to compose myself. But, like I keep telling myself, it’s only a year. Six months if she comes to visit in February.



Our train ride to London was uneventful, and once in the City we split up so I could see my grandmother by myself, and Mum could meet another relative. That took most of the afternoon, and by the time we reconvened in Victoria station I was knackered. Still, no point sleeping and feeling groggy on waking – better by far to stay awake until proper bedtime. With a little hassle (walking through Gatwick airport, changing terminals, getting a taxi) we made it to our B&B which is conveniently about a 6 minute ride from the airport … I suppose less convenient is its proximity to various flight paths. Still, I could sleep through an earthquake (apparently I already did). I have to say the booking-in process at this guesthouse was nothing short of bizarre. The woman who runs the show either takes heavy mind-altering medication, or has recently been lobotomised. Put simply, she does not make sense.



We arrived while another family were in the throes of booking themselves into their various rooms in this small guesthouse. Ten minutes later (after what one suspects was an undeniably long previous battle) the father of the family emerges triumphant with his lot’s keys. We enter the room, and there are another couple there – no problem, we’ll just wait our turn, it’s fine. The woman owning the joint had other ideas though – we were to go first, much to our embarrassment, after all the poor couple had sat there through the first family’s booking-in, and now ours. Oh dear. But before that even, the owner decided that any incoming phone calls took priority over her customers – surely a mixup in her brain where “customer service” was concerned? And she was quite, er, open on the phone as well (“Stop fucking ringing here”, and so on) – in front of us all, hardly what we expected, although I did want to laugh.



Finally, she got onto trying to book us in and blow me if her little brain wasn’t addled in some way or other. First she thought we were a foursome staying together. Then she got that it was two separate couples but couldn’t for the life of her work out which rooms we were to have (I think the issue of my Mum booking herself a twin room, and me a private separate room – not wanting to share particularly – confused the hell out of her). In the end she twigged it all, but the numbers on her booking sheet were all askew. She asked us if we wouldn’t mind putting down our car registration, and my Mum explained quite patiently that we didn’t have one. Finally she tried to write up the bill and wanted to give us an extra room despite us telling her several times not to include a third room because it wasn’t ours. By this point I was tempted to ask if she was retarded. Apparently it got better (I left then to move stuff upstairs) because Mum wanted the courtesy airport taxi – you get a voucher from her – booked for the morning, so there were no delays and no questions about it. According to Mum this woman thought we were trying to book a taxi for us and the other couple – despite the fact that we are two separate travelling pairs, and the rest of the people in the guesthouse, them included, are leaving at 0400! Oh, and she couldn’t get the other couple’s name right worth a damn.



It was bizarre.



We tried to get out to a pub for a meal after that, but the place was full, and I’m sure I’m correct when I say that in a pub, where people are seated at tables for their food (ie not eating at the bar), it is not the done thing to spy a four-seater table with two people at it and have the thought “oh right, it’s all about mucking in and getting on with it in a place like this, we’ll just go over there and sit on the end of that table where two people are happily having a conversation” … I protested strongly enough that we did not follow Mum’s ever-so-sensible-and-British-but-wholly-impractical idea, and instead wound up at a very nice Thai place. Mum was very pleased indeed, and a far better idea overall than eating at the pub.



I’m back at the guesthouse as I type this, the Wifi exists but the password doesn’t seem to be working, which is why I think I will be using Gatwick’s network tomorrow. I don’t think I’ll bother having a shower tonight, sweaty and disgusting as I may be, because I’ll only get ikky overnight. Up at about 0715 tomorrow morning, breakfast around 0800 and our taxi is apparently at 1000, which is ample time to try and at least get Mum online here before we leave for the airport.



Next update either from my stopover in Dubai or my arrival in Shanghai … Bon Voyage from me!

(EDIT - more on Shanghai and the story so far to follow soon. Turns out also that the woman from the hostel was not the owner and was also far more normal in the morning. Didn't stop her looking like what I imagine one of my ex-housemates would look like if he was a woman (*shudder*), and I don't suppose that helped.

Lastminute Changes

Even the best laid plans go bad ... my idea was to arrive in Shanghai, hole up there for a day or so, and have a train booked with soft-sleeper carriage to Urumqi all ready and waiting for me to hop on and go. My friends in China were going to book one for me this week, and it was all going to go smoothly. That is, until this morning when she texts me to say that only hard-sleeper carriages are available and is that okay?

Having done some reading up on it, I have determined that it is just about okay - the real difference is not in the beds' comfort but the space and security per carriage. Soft-sleeper compartments provide you with 4 beds and a door for the cabin. Hard-sleeper gets 6 beds in the same space, and does away with the door. Still, if I don't take too many valuables with me, and I don't flash them about, I should be able to keep my goods quite secure. I think there is a hold for check-in baggage, which I may very well make use of.

It's all part of the adventure - I only hope I don't have to use my travel insurance within the first week! Next update will be either just before I leave (Thursday) or just after I arrive (sometime Friday). :)

Taking A Break

It's just 10 days 'til I travel to China ... and instead of running around packing and worrying about money, I'm sitting in the foyer of a hotel in Prague, using free internet and waiting for the complimentary all you can eat buffet breakfast to start. This has to be the best way to spend the money I earnt this summer - the city is beautiful, the people welcoming, the food is great, everything is cheap ... what more could I ask for? :) And best of all, I've left all my work at home in England so I can't stress over all the Chinese I've forgotten until at least Thursday. Of course, then I'll be cramming characters and grammar back into my brain like nobody's business. Apparently there are no entrance exams as such when I get to XNU (Xinjiang Normal University), but I want to be put into a decent class if possible, however they work it. And, given that I've not spent my summer in China or Taiwan like some people, I think some hardcore cramming in my final week in England is about the only thing I can do to ensure some modicum of success.

But for now, I am relaxing in Prague. Happy Days.

Visas and Finance (for students who are yet to travel)

This entry is for students in their First or Second year at university, who are have yet to make preparations for travel. It is information and opinion based on my own experiences. Take it or leave it. :)

THIS ENTRY IS STUPIDLY LONG. TAKE A SEAT OR PRINT IT OUT IF YOU WANT TO READ IT

It’s been ages since I updated this – my bad, too busy with work and sorting my life out … I believe I was going to cover Visas and Finance in this update. I would touch on accommodation but I really haven’t got a clue what is going on there at the moment. All I know is there is the offer of a year’s accommodation in the University dorms for £250 (inc gas, elec, etc) – but then you get what you pay for and I don’t have high hopes; even given China’s smaller-scale economy, £250 for a year will not get you that much. I think also that means sharing a room with someone else (could be really annoying for both parties) as well as communal showers, toilets, and curfews at night, etc etc, none of which I can really be bothered with. I would rather spend more on having an apartment and my own space! So, more on accommodation when I get to China. For now, here’s some info and advice on money and visas.

You can only get your visa within the 3 months prior to your departure – any more and it won’t be valid when you arrive (or they simply won’t issue one). Where you go to get your visa depends on your residence within the UK – Scottish (and I think Northern Irish) residents must go to the Edinburgh Consulate, residents of the North East / West, and parts of Lancashire must go to Manchester’s Consulate (see their website for exact details), and other residents must go to the London Embassy – quite a trek for some, and I believe there may be some issue of getting extra documents, (a medical check perhaps?), which don’t apply to the Consulates. Not wanting this fuss, I opted to declare myself as a resident of Tyne and Wear (which I technically am until Saturday) and go to Manchester; visa issuing times are from about 0930 – 1200 which means getting there early, as queues can form very quickly (especially with this being Olympic season). From Newcastle this meant taking the 0525 to Manchester Piccadilly, then finding buses running near to the Consulate … use Google Maps and search Google for local bus routes, stagecoach operate in Manchester and their buses are quite clear, you’ll want to get near to Denison Road (for the Consulate) which means going down Anson Road (I think) and asking the driver where to get off … in short, buses towards Rusholme tend to be going in the right direction – it was quite a lot of groundwork, so China had better be worth this effort! I got to the Consulate around 0930 and there was already a queue backing out of the door, and down the steps – it looks like quite a cottage industry on the surface, just a small room with a couple of windows, and a load of admin going on behind … Their building is quite old, and set in really goodlooking grounds, even on an overcast day, but it’s a shame this consideration for appearance doesn’t extend to their consideration for others. While at the Consulate I got talking to a couple who were trying to get their visas, but one of them was disabled, due to take part in the Paralympic Games following the Olympics. Confined to his wheelchair, his partner had to go and conduct his visa application on his behalf, because the Consulate didn’t have a ramp (even temporary, to put over their steps) to allow disabled access to the building. The staff seemed distant and unsympathetic, not even offering to come out and see him. I don’t suppose it helped that he was black either. Sadly, this seems to be typical of Chinese mentality – I think as a society they really are quite callous and uncaring, and while this treatment in the UK is seen as deplorable and disgusting, unfortunately I couldn’t get too surprised. Still, back to the visa process … They like you to have everything signed and prepared before you reach the window, but it doesn’t actually matter if you haven’t cut your photo out or attached it to the form or made duplicates – they CAN do all this for you. They will take your duplicate documents (University acceptance, etc) and you keep your originals. Processing takes at least a morning, you can get your visa the same day if you are willing to pay £20 extra (bringing the total to £50) – generally speaking your passport will be ready by 1130 or 1200, and that’s it. Sorted. It does look a bit odd though, it says I can enter anytime before October, but my stay is limited to 000 days. Yes, that’s right. Zero days. They do cover this a little by stapling a note to your passport saying the bearer of the visa must register with police within 30 days of arrival to obtain their resident’s permit and avoid illegal stay … ho hum I can see a deportation coming up. So that’s it really, go there with a heap of papers, hand over some cash, wait three hours, and you have a visa. Simple.

So, you’ve got your visa, you’re ready to go … Except that niggling issue of money. How to support yourself for a year? How much will you need? You’ve got your flights so you don’t need to worry about those costs, but what about when you are IN China? I took on board the advice offered in one of our pre-departure meetings, and the words of wisdom gleaned from the internet and my contact currently in Urumqi, and made some rough calculations to work out what to take. You will need cash for:

* Food
* Accommodation
* Travelling within (and possibly to the countries surrounding) China
* Supplies – toiletries, paper, pens, books, etc
* Emergencies

What I was keen not to happen was for the cost of a year in China to come to anything more than the cost of a year in England. So first I worked out how much I would need (including emergency money) for a year in England … somewhere in the region of £5000. Then I thought maybe an emergency in China would be more serious, and in any case if I take more money than is necessary, I can always stick it back in the bank when I get home J So I arrived at the figure of £6000, to more than cover me. This is roughly 80 000 RMB … I hope not to get through more than 50 000! Fortunately, through a mix of savings and work money I have this kind of cash – if you don’t, I can only assume you’ll need to find out if there are loans, bursaries, grants, etc available from LEAs, universities, banks, and so on … Once you have decided how much cash to take (almost certainly a four figure sum), there’s the tricky question of HOW to take it. Traveller’s cheques are safe but you don’t want to be walking around with a giant wad of them. Bank transfers are secure but cost a percentage of the transaction and of course you need an account at the other end, which may take time to set up. You need RMB to pay for things as soon as you arrive, but the limit on RMB coming into / going out of China is 6000 (approx £450). I spent a while asking myself all these questions and have come to the following decision – take it or leave it, I think it’s a good plan :P

* £450 in Chinese RMB (approx 5500 – 6000)
* £4500 (approx USD $8500) on a Thomas Cook Cashcard Passport (see below)
* £1000 in standard Traveller’s Cheques (probably converted to USD)

The RMB are for immediate use – taxis, hotels, food, train tickets, key deposits, and so on. As far as I know though, the only denomination available in the UK is 100 RMB notes (approx £7), which are great because you’ll only be carrying 55 of them, which can be hidden quite easily, but the drawbacks are twofold – if they go missing you have lost a lot of money, and secondly nothing actually costs THAT much so you will be forever changing them for smaller notes. £450 can go a long way in China! The £1000 in Traveller’s Cheques are my backup money – I hope not to use them, if they just sit in my suitcase all year and I come home with them I will not complain! They are guaranteed, insured, and never expire, what more could I want? Ah yes, that’s right, the cashcard. This thing has to be the best thing I’ve ever found for travel money … First I thought I would get a Nationwide account because they have 0% commission on withdrawals, no charges at ATMs, etc … but they won’t give me a VISA debit card for at least 6 months (stupid Building Society), and this is actually a better option … With this card you get:

* The ability to put up to US $9000 on a cashcard
* The ability to use the card anywhere you see the VISA logo
* Free transactions in restaurants, hotels, etc with a card reader
* Flat rate charge of $2.50 at an ATM …
* … but you can take out up to $800 at a time
* Insured and guaranteed same as Traveller’s Cheques
* A backup card in case the first is lost or stolen
* You can top it up again


Really, what more could I need? This is mint. Mint I tell you. So here’s the plan – set up a Chinese bank account (free ATM withdrawals in China, see) … and then keep drizzling money into it as and when it needs. It will cost me about £1.30 to withdraw £400 but then that money will probably last about 1.5 months in China, which means I’ll only have to make about 8 withdrawals (approx £10 - £12 charge total) from the cashcard the entire time I’m in China, and all other withdrawals can be made for free off my Chinese card, useful for day-to-day things. Happy Days, think I.

Make sure you get your finances in order early on – withdrawing large amounts from your bank/s means calling them up and arranging to collect the money about a week in advance. Ensure you have photo ID for everything, as well as statements to prove where the money came from. And don’t forget to tell your bank/s you are going abroad!

That’s about it folks, hope this is of some help to someone. I’ll let you all know how the money plan works when I get to China (only 15 days to go). Any questions, just ask.